Front Gate Pornography (For Mum) (Newport, RI)

Summer Cottages

From the late nineteenth-century to the early twentieth, Newport, Rhode Island, was a summer retreat for the wealthy magnates of industry from New York. They bought land and built summer cottages, where they would spend between 6 and 12 weeks every summer, for the season. Below is an example of one such cottage.

The Breakers

The Breakers was the summer escape of railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt and his family. Make more sense now you know the name? When they called them cottages, they were being ironic. In today's numbers, these homes cost dozens of millions of dollars to build (one to two million dollars at the time), and they could cost up to seven million dollars a summer to run (up to $500,000 at the time). For the summer season was a social event. The homes were fully staffed (maybe 40 people or so), parties and balls were regular events and one tried their hardest to impress the rest of society. This was the gilded age - literally, there is a room within breakers that has platinum wall panels - and it lasted a comparatively short time. By the mid-twentieth century, most of these cottages had been torn down or sold. Many still survive though, looked after by the Newport Preservation Society or as part of the campus of Salve Regina University.

Chateau Sur Mer (Chateau by the sea)

Marble House

Daniel sick of my photography at Rosecliff

There's a significant number of large houses (not quite on the scale of the above) still being lived in privately. It's not really surprising - the fact that they cost in the region of $5 million aside - as Newport is a gorgeous little town on the water. There's a renowned cliff walk running for roughly 5 kilometers along the cliffs, which run behind many of the grandest mansions. We were planning to walk it in it's entirety but didn't get time. We did, however, walk sections of it.

Newport Cliffs

We wandered around town and found a pumpkin market.

Markets

Daniel, looking all Abercrombie and Fitch

What we didn't do was take a Segway tour through town. Some people did though.

"They see me rolling', They hatin'"

All in all a wicked place, and well worth a visit. It's mind-boggling really. In many ways these "cottages" are beautiful, tasteful and awe-inspiring. In others, they are vulgar and a grotesque display of excess wealth. These competing sentiments are not easy to reconcile.

Plimoth

We'd planned to catch the T to the airport to pick up our hire car, but it was raining. We chickened out and caught a taxi. Pathetic, I know. Daniel's stoked with the car - it's a black Nissan Maxima with a sunroof and NY plates. Very cool and very comfortable. If I put my seat right back, my feet can't touch the front of the foot-space. The rain intensified, which meant that our first driving experience was navigating our way out of Boston, on the freeways, with no visibility. Daniel's driving, but I'm the co-pilot - I hold the Tom Tom, give him directions, calm him down when he doesn't know what's going on, tell him off when he's driving to the left side of the lane rather than the right etc. You get the point. Everything aside, though, he's doing a damn good job of it.

Driving

We'd planned to address the weather conditions as we met them, not buying any gear until we needed it. Well that plan backfired, and the weather had a good laugh at our expense. The rain had arrived for the day, and it wasn't planning on going anywhere. In Plymouth we went aboard the replica of the Mayflower (the creatively named Mayflower II) and visited Plymouth Rock, which I've since read is just a rock - it has been proven that the Pilgrims couldn't have landed there because of the currents.

The highlight of the day was Plimoth Plantation, a recreation of the village the pilgrims created after their arrival. It was, in typical American fashion, populated with actors in character and costume. The American preoccupation with historical re-enactment is a little creepy, and more than a little awkward. I think it's something we need to get used to, because it appears it's going to be very prevalent. However, we did appreciate the fires they had burning within the houses. By the time we bought our tickets it was pouring, and we had a tiny umbrella that clearly wasn't going to withstand the wind. Cue the bright blue tourist ponchos.

Daniel being Daniel

It's a good look, right?

The Village

Looking and feeling like idiots aside, it was an incredible experience and the rain only heightened the atmosphere. Even if we were drenched to the bone by the end of it (Our research tells us that Plymouth received 51mm that day). Our next stop was Newport, Rhode Island, but we made a detour to THE INDEPENDENCE MALL OF AMERICA. Sounds grand, doesn't it? In truth, it's more like the Dianella Plaza than one would imagine, but it's open until 9pm every evening despite the only people there at 7pm on a Tuesday being two very wet Australian tourists.

We drove to Newport in the dark and somehow made it there alive. Staying in a Motel 6 around the corner from a trailer park, next to a Walmart and across the road from an Adults Only Video Store. There's not even a McDonalds in sight. Living the American dream, we think.

The American Dream (Boston)

Harvard and Hockey

After eventually getting onto the correct 'T' line (the subway) thanks to the help of a very kind attendant who loaded up a 'Charlie Card' (multi-rider) for us, we were on our way to the famous institution of learning that is Harvard University. We took the free official tour - led by Harvard undergraduates, it runs at 10, 12 and 2 and involves a roughly one-hour guided walk through Harvard Yard. The tour itself was great. Our guide was knowledgeable and informative, and he even had a sense of humour, which was even more impressive given that his 'concentration' (major) is computer science... Harvard itself, though, was somewhat underwhelming. I can feel the outrage already, so let me clarify. I'm sure it's a shining beacon in the often badly-lit world of academia, but the grounds were simply a bit lacklustre. The original benefactor of Harvard, John Harvard, may have studied at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, but Harvard is no Cambridge in appearance. Harvard Yard was pretty, but not impressive. Actually, it barely gave UWA a run for its money and made me realise just how much I've taken the campus for granted over the past millennium of my studies.

Daniel in Harvard Yard

I was going to move on but the above photo has reminded me that I wanted to comment on the students. I don't know about you, but I always imagined them as a mature, scholarly-looking bunch wearing tweed jackets with elbow patches. Not so. The buildings in Harvard Yard are used as freshman dormitories, so there were eighteen-year-old kids running around everywhere. Dan and I are both feeling really old.

That evening we went to a hockey game (you can't call it ice hockey - you'll out yourself as someone who hasn't got a clue). The Boston Bruins versus the North Carolina Hurricanes was a fantastic way to spend a couple of hundred dollars. It began with a show of civility in the form of the Star Spangled Banner. They really do take their hats off and hold their hands to their hearts, but my goodness it sounded like there were whales drowning.

The National Anthem

What followed was mayhem, madness and misconduct. At one point half the Bruins were in the sin bin, leaving the Hurricanes to demolish the other half, and the crowd tried to start a riot by throwing stuff onto the ice. Needless to say, the Bruins lost, though not before the Hurricanes coach was ordered out of the stadium for misbehaving. A lot of fun. I sat next to a very nice gentleman from North Carolina who tried to explain the game to me and called me ma'am every time he got a chance.

FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!

All in all a brilliant evening, and we're currently deciding which game to go to next.

Hi, My Name's Paul

Our day yesterday began with a gorgeous breakfast of Pancakes and French Toast in Beacon Hill. The American's certainly don't do things by halves, except that the prices are nearly half what we would pay for the same thing in Perth.

Bellies full, we then got our tourist on and walked the famed Freedom Trail, a roughly 10 kilometer round trip that takes in Boston's most interesting historical sites. It also took us well out of our Back Bay/Beacon Hill enclave and showed us an entirely different side of this city. It starts at a corner of Boston Common, which we arrived at by walking through the Common as well as the Public Gardens - there's a lot of beautiful green space here, and the Bostonians USE it! We then took in the Massachusetts State House and a couple of fascinating old "burying grounds" as they call them. Near the Old South Meeting house we detoured and spent an hour browsing a fabulous old bookstore - didn't buy anything, unfortunately.

Commonwealth Books and Old Prints, Boston

Continued on to the Old State House, site of the Boston Massacre of 1770, before stopping for lunch at Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market where Daniel and I shared a Philly Cheesesteak. We visited an old printing house with a working movable-type replica - apparently there is a university in Minnesota that makes them, if anybody needs Christmas present ideas for me... Eventually we found ourselves at USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. But it was closed. Apparently it's open today, but I fear we won't have time to go back. Sad face. We literally walked all day, but the feet are holding up surprisingly well. As for the smell...

We made a friend early on during our sojourn - meet Paul.

Daniel and Paul

Paul is a New England native who enjoys long walks around the city, windy weather, and being free of colonial British oppression. However, he dislikes Boston in the fall, as it makes him nervous. Pumpkins are everywhere, and apparently they have no shortage of uses. Starbucks currently does a pumpkin latte, and we even sampled a pumpkin donut from Dunkin' Donuts. It was actually very yummy.

A Dunkin' Donuts Pumpkin Glazed Donut

There's not as much fall colour around as we were expecting. There's a fair bit of yellow and the odd red tree, but it's been a bit underwhelming really, especially since the foliage charts we've been monitoring reckon Boston is at peak at the moment. We're hoping it will get better as we head off into the rest of New England in the next few days.

Red Tree at Charleston Navy Yard

We went out for dinner at a little cafe called Geoffrey's, around the corner from the hotel. Nobody, our waiter included, seems to be able to understand a single damn thing we say, but we're managing. I know a lot of people dislike American accents, but ours truly sounds horrid by comparison. Accents aside, a lot of people seem to be stopping us in the street to ask for directions, so we must be blending in alright.

To Harvard today, but I've got to finish my breakfast of a pumpkin donut first - sorry Paul.

Pahk Yah Cah in Hahvahd Yahd

Daniel is devastated. We've been in the US of A for roughly 36 hours now, and we haven't come across one McDonalds. Not one. He's questioning whether we're actually in America or not, and I think he has a point. Boston is decidedly less "American" than we assumed it would be - we think this comes down to the fact that we're staying in Back Bay and have only been frequenting the tourist areas (i.e. Beacon Hill), which overlap with the old and expensive areas. There's a lot of money in Boston, but the Bostonians seem to know what to do with it. Even the matte black Aston Martin racing down a main street didn't seem as nouveau riche as it perhaps should have... The houses are spectacular, (most) people are dressed like they stepped out of a posh British catalogue and Daniel, by comparison, is currently dancing at the end of the bed with his boxers pulled up around his armpits. Really.

Yesterday we took it easy, wandered around to find our bearings, and ended up having Sunday Brunch on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Tower. The views were as good as you'd imagine, and the croque monsieur was even better. I promised my Mum that I wouldn't let this turn into a food blog, but I'm going to struggle with that. It's just that food is so ... American, and it already seems to be such a defining part of a particular location. There's a lot of it, too. Daniel is now pretending to skip with an invisible skipping rope - I don't think he realises I can see him. If yesterday is any indication, we'll be doing enough walking to (hopefully) counteract most of the calories.

For the most part, any Americans we've encountered have been extremely friendly, though it's true that their sense of humour is either lacking or incompatible with ours. Even those we came across in NEW YORK CITY, where I'm sure they're supposed to be worse than usual, were great. They’re just … abrupt. Efficious is probably the best way to put it. Within 15 minutes of getting off the plane from Tokyo we’d had 3 or 4 conversations with very friendly, very helpful people. The Customs officer told us he hated us when we specified our itinerary. On the airtrain from one terminal to another we ran into one of the air hostesses from the flight who recognised us, said hello, asked us about our holiday and proceeded to ensure that we knew where we were going and how we were getting there.

We got there alright, although by the time we checked into our hotel in Boston we'd been through 4 flights and had been in transit for roughly 42 hours. We felt pretty good, all things considering, and slept well the first night. Not so the second night - it's now 0730 and we've both been up since 0330. Never mind - we managed to use our jet lag productively and have booked tickets to the Boston Bruins (ice hockey) for tomorrow night.

We've acquired an American sim card and can thus be contacted on +18573993604. The best email address to contact us on is dskippin@gmail.com, or you can comment on these blog posts.

Today we're going to walk the Freedom Trail, then collapse in exhaustion after lunch.

Photos to come. Over and out.